


Fragments of the Future

by HiddenObscurial



Series: Grindeldore One Shots [4]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Grindeldore, M/M, Post-Movie 2: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Pre-Movie 1: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Visions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-20
Updated: 2019-03-20
Packaged: 2019-11-18 10:59:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18119453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenObscurial/pseuds/HiddenObscurial
Summary: It has been said that Sight is a gift, but is it really?





	Fragments of the Future

**Author's Note:**

> This is written for the Fantastic Beasts Calendar collection, go check out the rest of the works in it too!

**I. First Meeting**

Gellert walked down the path towards his Aunt's modest house, carrying his owl in its cage, and levitating his trunk up to the front door. 

As he walked, he felt someone's gaze fixed on him. Turning around, he glanced at back at the street he had come from, but there was no one there. 

A flash of auburn hair in the second story window of the house next to his aunt's caught his attention. Looking up, a pair of blue eyes caught his, before the curtains were hastily drawn up. 

Shaking his head, Gellert turned towards the front door and knocked. 

"Gellert? Is that you?" A voice called from inside the house. 

"Yes, Auntie!" Gellert replied through the door. 

He heard a set of footsteps quickly making their way over, and then the door swung open to reveal his Aunt Bathilda. 

"Ah, Gellert, it's so good to see you again! Last time I saw you, you were just beginning to show signs of magic!" 

"Nice to see you too, Auntie. Thank you for allowing me to stay for this summer," Gellert said graciously, bowing. 

"What a gentleman," his aunt laughed affectionately. "Your room's up the stairs, to the right. Do make youself at home." 

"Thank you, Auntie." Gellert pointed his wand, and his trunk floated up the stairs. 

As he walked up the stairs, he heard his aunt's voice calling after him. "By the way, Gellert, I've invited someone over for tea later; please do join us!" 

"I will!" 

Shutting the door behind him, he placed the owl cage on a shelf, and started to unpack his belongings, waving his wand and sending his clothes into the wadrobe, and arranging his books neatly into the empty bookshelf.

About half an hour later, a knock on the front door signalled the arrival of his aunt's guest. 

Putting down the book he had been reading, he hurried down the stairs just in time to see an auburn-haired boy step into the living room. 

The boy, hearing his footsteps, looked up at him as he entered. Gellert could not help but notice how handsome the boy was. His auburn curls framed his chiseled face perfectly. His clear blue eyes looked at him with a sort of intensity he had never seen before. And his lips - _Merlin_ did he want to just have a taste of how they felt like against his. 

The boy walked up to him and offered his hand. "Hello, you must be Gellert, right? I'm Albus, Albus Dumbledore. I live right next door." 

Keeping his cool, Gellert reached out and took his hand. But before he could reply, he felt a shock go through his right eye, and a scene flashed across his eyes. 

_Albus sat at the desk in Gellert’s bedroom, reading pages of handwritten notes. Gellert stood behind him, watching him work._

_On the page that Albus was reading, he recognised his own handwriting forming the words that made up something like a script for a speech._

_”Magic blooms only in rare souls. It is granted to those who live for higher things. What a world we would make, for all of humanity: we who live for freedom, for truth, and for love,” Albus read aloud as he reached the end of the page. “It’s amazing, Gellert. It really does strike a chord in a lot of people, including me.”_

_Albus stood up and faced Gellert, his blue eyes twinkling. “I do wish we could live openly; for love.”_

_Before Gellert could reply, Albus was leaning in and pressing his lips against his-_

Surprised, Gellert gasped and stumbled backwards, letting go of Albus' hand. 

"Gellert? Are you alright?" he heard Albus ask.

He steadied himself against the wall. Then, he looked up. “I’m fine. So sorry. It’s nice to meet you, Albus.” 

-

**II. Blood Pact**

Gellert stood in the abandoned barn, facing Albus. The runes on the ground glowed in the moonlight pouring in from the open doorway. In front of him, Albus stood with his wand in his hand. 

“Gellert, are you sure you want to do this?” Albus asked. “If anything goes wrong... We could both die.” 

Gellert nodded. “As you said, if we are to work together, we must not hurt or turn against each other.” 

Together, they sliced their palms and pressed their hands together. 

A sharp pain went through Gellert’s right eye, and he squeezed his eyes shut, just as the vision started. 

_Their older selves were standing in front of each other, wands raised. Around them, there was destruction everywhere - bodies slumped over broken cars and under chunks of debris, magical fire still raging through the streets._

_”Do what you can, Albus, but you won’t be able to stop me!” He watched as he pointed his wand at Albus, and a jet of green light flew towards his friend._

_The spell was easily countered, and they started duelling - bolts of lightning and red and green meeting each other in mid-air between them._

_And then, a flash of white as a spell broke through Gellert’s own shielding charms, and he was knocked off his feet, hitting the concrete walls behind him-_

When he opened his eyes, a pendant hovered in the air between them - an intricate silver charm with an amber crystal embedded in the middle, the two drops of their blood swirling in it. 

“Albus,” he said shakily. “I had another vision. I saw us fighting-“

“It’s alright, Gellert.” Albus stepped forwards and kissed him gently on the lips. “We have the blood pact now; we will never fight each other.”

-

**III. A Boy Named Credence**

Grindelwald walked down the streets of New York, disguised as a man named Percival Graves. _A head auror,_ they had told him. _He holds a lot of power in MACUSA._

There had been rumors of a magical force wrecking destruction in New York, then disappearing without a trace. He had come to study it, and if it was possible, tame it to work for his cause. 

At the city bank down the street, a group of people were gathered below the steps leading up to the building. A woman was standing on the stairs, giving a speech. Three children stood around the edges of the crowd, handing out leaflets to people as they past by. 

An abandoned leaflet drifted across the path in front of him. 

_No witchcraft in America! We need a second salem!_ read the text on the leaflet. 

So these people were the Second Salemers they had been discussing in the MACUSA office. 

As he walked up to the crowd, a boy dressed in black approached him, timidly offering him a leaflet. Disgusted, Grindelwald pushed the boy’s hand away. 

Then, the familiar shock went through his right eye. 

_He was standing outside a derelict building, still disguised as Graves. Through the window, he could see a banner reading “N.S.P.S” hung on the wall inside. The New Salem Philanthropic Society._

_From inside, there was shouting, then something that sounded like the crack of a whip, followed by a terrified whimper of pain._

_And then, suddenly, there were screams, and the roof of the building exploded open. A mass of black - an Obscurus - flew out of the now-destroyed roof, racing down the street and leaving destruction in its wake, overturning cars and causing cracks to form in the road-_

The vision ended, and he looked at the boy once more. He could not have been the Obscurial in his vision - he was too old. An Obscurial would have died long before reaching his age. 

But perhaps he could use the boy...

He reached out and held the boy by his shoulder. “What is your name, boy?”

“Credence, sir,” the boy replied quietly. 

Grindelwald nodded in acknowledgement. “I know what goes on in your home, Credence. I can get you out of there, if you can help me find a child I’m looking for.”

Credence looked at him warily. “My Ma will hurt me if I go missing for too long.”

He reached out and took Credence’s empty hand, gently opening his clenched fist to reveal angry red marks across his palm. He touched his fingers to the wound, willing it to mend, and the gashes faded away. 

Credence watched him, hints of both fear and surprise showing in his eyes. But he did not make any move to pull away. 

“Credence, there is a child I’m looking for who’s in close proximity to your mother. He or she can do magic of immense power. Find the child for me, and I will teach you magic.” 

-

**IV. Visions of War**

“Sir!” Rigel stood as Grindelwald entered the room. “My father said you wanted to meet with me?” 

Grindelwald nodded in acknowledgement. “A pleasure to meet you, Rigel. I take it you’re as committed to our cause as your father?” 

“Yes, sir.” 

“Good. Now, your father has been working to infiltrate the British Ministry and recruit more aurors for our cause?” 

Rigel nodded. “He asked me to tell you that he can get them started by tomorrow.” 

“Very well. He has my permission to put his plans in action.” Grindelwald stepped closer to the man in front of him. “And now, about you, young man. What is it that you want from our cause?”

“Me?” The words seemed to surprise Rigel. 

“I like to understand what all my followers feel about and want from our cause,” Grindelwald said coolly. 

“I- I want wizards to live openly, sir. To not have to sit and watch the muggles destroy the world around us while we do nothing,” Rigel said. 

“I fought in the Great War, sir. I saw the death, the destruction. I know that if we had intervened, none of it would have happened,” Rigel clarified upon seeing Grindelwald’s questioning look. 

“I see.” Grindelwald placed a hand on his shoulder. 

_The vision came in bits and pieces - fragments of a distant future._

_He saw thousands of people, dressed in tattered civilian clothing, being herded like pigs to the slaughter into chambers, marching solemnly on, their tired eyes staring straight ahead. Soldiers wearing a black and red symbol on an armband on their uniform guarded the area, loaded rifles in hand._

_Then, the scene changed. He saw devastated landscape - dead bodies of both soldiers and civilians strewn across the roads, buildings collapsing from the impact of artillery shells, tanks rumbling down the street. There was a piercing screaming sound - one that could not have been made by any human. Looking up, he saw a plane diving downwards, before what he recognised as a muggle bomb was dropped from the bottom of the aircraft. There were panicked cries as people tried to run, but the fire consumed everything in sight-_

Rigel watched him curiously as the vision ended. 

Grindelwald made sure his face showed sympathy, before replying. 

“I promise you, we will make sure it does not happen again.”

-

**V. Running from Fate**

Grindelwald paced around the room as he explained the spell to Aurelius. “You need conviction, Aurelius. That is the most important part. Now try it.”

Aurelius waved his wand. “Accio!” 

The book on the table moved an inch closer to him, but otherwise, nothing happened. 

“Remember, Aurelius, _conviction_ is key,” Grindelwald said. “Imagine the book flying into your hand. Concentrate on that when you do the spell.” 

He watched as Aurelius stared hard at the book. “Accio!” 

This time, the book flew from the table into his hand. Startled, he barely managed to catch it. 

“Very good, my boy,” Grindelwald said, placing a hand on Aurelius’ shoulder. 

_He stood in the middle of a street. Debris lay strewn across the broken asphalt. Cars lay overturned along the road. A building was partially collapsed next to him, bricks spilling out onto the pavement._

_In front of him, a duel was going on - a duel between him and Dumbledore. Aurelius, in Obscurus form, lunged towards Dumbledore, shards of black scraping his opponent’s face and arms. But Dumbledore was quick, and a shield charm went up around him before he could do any siginificant damage._

_Jets of green and red and blue light flew between them, hitting invisible barriers and stopping mid-air._

_The battle went on for what seemed like hours. Suddenly, the mass of black swirling around them seemed to stand still, the shards hanging in mid-air. The Obscurus was weakening._

_Both him and Dumbledore seemed to notice the opening. As Dumbledore fired a curse towards the core of the Obscurial drifting above them, he cast a shielding charm-_

_The air went still. Particles of black gently spiralled back to the ground, converging to form Aurelius’ lifeless body lying on the ground._

-

**VI. One Last Chance**

Gellert sat in the corner of his cell on the cold, hard ground. A rusty iron chain held him to the wall. The runes had long faded off, but by then, after years of imprisonment, he had lost his strength to carry out wandless magic. Besides, he deserved this, for all the ruthless crimes he had committed. How he had not seen the error of his ways all those years ago, he did not know. 

He was’t quite sure how many years it had been since he had last seen anyone - food and drink were pushed through a slit in the door every day, but it was always a house-elf who served him, never a wizard or witch. Sometimes, they left him a copy of the Daily Prophet, at first as if to serve as a reminder of how his cause had failed, and later on just out of pity, for he had nothing to do other than waste away in this stone cell. 

Albus used to come by a few times a year, strengthening the charms around the cell and the castle to prevent his escape. He’d sit outside the door of his cell, and while he rarely got to see his old friend’s face, he would talk to him; tell him about all the things going on in the outside world. But it had been years - almost a decade - since he had last seen Albus. He knew Albus did not quite love him as much any more. 

The slit in the door was pushed open with a creak. Gellert did not look up. He waited for the food to be pushed inside, but nothing came. 

Instead, “Gellert.”

It was _him_. 

“Albus?” He tried to stand, but his legs were too weak after years of inactivity. He slid back to the ground shakily. 

“I’m here, Gellert.” Albus’s quiet voice came through the slit. “I’m right here.” 

Gellert slowly dragged himself over to the door. And finally, he could see. Albus sat cross-legged outside the door, a faint, tired smile on his face. 

Gellert knew they would not have much time together. He raked his eyes over his old friend, taking in everything he could. That was when he noticed Albus’ right hand, which was blackened and shrivelled. 

He reached through the slit, and Albus took his hand. 

_A blond boy, no older than seventeen, stood on the top of a tower, pointing his wand threateningly at Albus._

_He watched as the two talked, but his powers were not strong enough to make out what they were saying. Then, the door behind the boy burst open, and a werewolf and a few death eaters came into view. The boy was roughly shoved aside._

_There was another minute of conversation - based on the expressions on their faces, Gellert could tell they were trying to get the boy to do something to Albus. The boy was terrified, the hand pointing the wand at Albus trembling._

_The door leading to the ramparts burst open again, and a man with greasy, black hair appeared. His eyes moved from Albus, who was slumped against the wall, to the werewolf and the death eaters, and then to the frightened boy._

_Gellert knew something important was about to happen, and he poured all his energy into trying to listen to what was being said._

_”...the boy doesn’t seem able...” he heard one of the death eaters tell the man who had just arrived._

_And then, he heard Albus’ voice._

_”Severus...” his voice was trembling and barely audible. “Severus, please...”_

_And then, just before his energy went low and the sound faded away, he heard an incantation: “Avada Kedavra!”_

_He watched in horror as the jet of green light hit Albus in the chest, throwing him forcefully into the air, before his limp form toppled over the edge of the tower and went out of sight._

_Then, the scene changed. He was standing in the grounds of Hogwarts, at what he recalled was the Great Lake. A white marble tomb stood silently amongst the trees. With a start, he realised that it was Albus’ tomb he was looking at._

_He watched as Voldemort walked up to the tomb, shattering the tomb with a spell, and unwrapping the white sheets covering Albus’ body inside. Then, the Dark Lord reached inside, taking the Elder Wand from Albus._

The vision ended, and Gellert grasped onto his old friend’s hand tightly. “Albus, you can’t just...” 

Albus seemed to know what he had just seen. 

“Gellert, I need you to understand. This is the only way we can end the war,” he said softly. “I have to die.”

They sat quietly for a few more minutes, taking in each others’ presence, before Albus broke the silence. 

“I have to go now, Gellert,” Albus said, letting go of Gellert’s hand and slowly getting to his feet. He started to slide the cover of the slit in the door back into place. 

“Albus, wait,” Gellert called. 

Albus paused, kneeling down so that he could see into the cell. 

“I’m sorry, Albus. For everything.” 

Albus locked eyes with him for a second, and nodded slightly, hints of a pained smile showing on his face. His eyes shone with unshed tears. 

And then, the moment was over. Albus closed up the slit, and Gellert was left in the dark once more, listening to the retreating footsteps of his friend. 

**Author's Note:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this one, I hope you guys enjoyed reading it :)


End file.
